Each year, the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment (AIA/COTE) awards the Top Ten Green Projects. Based on ten judging criteria, they select the 10 most sustainable new buildings here in the US. This year's winners includes a treehouse in West Virginia, a homeless center in Portland, and a public park in Brooklyn.

The COTE Top Ten Green Projects program celebrates structures that use a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology to provide architectural solutions which protect and enhance the environment. Entries are examined in regard to their design and innovation, integration with their community, land use and effect on site ecology, bioclimatic design, energy and water use, approach to light and air, materials and construction, long-life considerations, and feedback loops.

2014 Winners

TOP ROW:

1. Sustainability Treehouse: The Sustainability Treehouse, an interactive interpretive and gathering facility in the forest, was conceived and created as a unique icon of outdoor adventure, environmental stewardship and high performance building design. Owned by Boy Scouts of America and located in West Virginia. Design Architect: Mithun; Executive Architect/Architect of Record: BNIM Glen Jean.

2.Bud Clark Commons: As a centerpiece of Portland’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, Bud Clark Commons (BCC) represents a new approach to providing dignified housing and comprehensive services to help those experiencing homelessness. Holst Architecture.

6. John & Frances Angelos Law Center: The new home of the John and Frances Angelos Law Center/University of Baltimore unites classrooms, faculty offices, administrative space, and the law library under a single roof for the first time in the history of the school. Behnisch Architekten.

7.Arizona State University Student Health Services: The 34,000-square-foot Arizona State University Health Services Building is an adaptive reuse project that transformed the existing sterile and inefficient health clinic into a clearly organized, efficient, and welcoming facility. Lake|Flato Architects, orcutt | winslow.

8. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters: The headquarters for The David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, California brings staff, grantees and partners together to solve the world’s most intractable problems. Passive, bioclimatic design strategies support the core philanthropic mission while serving as the basis of the net zero energy (NZE) and LEED Platinum building performance. EHDD.

9. U.S. Land Port of Entry: Located along the Minnesota-Canadian border, the Warroad Land Port of Entry is a 40,108-square-foot facility that supports the mission-driven demands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency responsible for securing the nation’s borders and promoting legal trade and travel. Snow Kreilich Architects, Inc.

10.Wayne N. Aspinall Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse: The Aspinall U.S. Courthouse modernization/high-performing green building renovation preserves an anchor in Grand Junction, Colorado, and converts the 1918 landmark into one of the most energy efficient, sustainable historic buildings in the country. Design Architect: Westlake Reed Leskosky and Architect of Record: The Beck Group.